Death at Beresford Hall by Emma Davies, narrated by Mira Dovreni is the fourth in the Adam and Eve Mystery Series. Francesca Eve, who owns a catering business, has a knack for ferreting out the truth and finding answers. Accompanied by her trusty sidekick Adam, Fran is engaged by the police to keep an eye on the star of a holiday cooking contest while posing as an author doing research for a new book. Once she arrives on set, she is drafted to replace a contestant who drops out. When the star of the show is murdered, Fran is not sure who can be trusted or if she will be next.

I listened to the audio version of this book and loved the narrator. She had a smooth yet compelling voice that portrayed each character with depth and skill. The narrator can make or break an audiobook, and this one definitely made the book. I will definitely look for other books that she narrates.

The peek behind the scenes of the reality cooking show was fun and interesting. Everything was so realistically described that I felt as though I was on set! The supporting characters and suspects were complex and true-to-life - some quirky, others neurotic or just grumpy. But there was no end to the suspect list With a well-written cozy, it’s always the person you least suspect, and this one did not disappoint! (I reviewed an advance reader copy and all opinions are my own.) This was a delightful cozy that had me engaged until the last word was read.

Death at Beresford Hall by Emma Davies Narrated by: Mira Dovreni is the Forth book in the brilliant Adam and Eve Mystery Series and I have really enjoyed these books especially as I love cosy mysteries and they're a easy quick read which is great for holidays etc. They have all been a well written, well narrated whodunit I love loved them.

I don't read a lot of cozy mysteries but this was a really fun read.

Adam and Fran, civilians who have solved several murders, have been asked by police to infiltrate a cooking competition show whose host is getting anonymous, vaguely threatening notes and "presents".

Since Fran has a catering business, she's a natural fit for this assignment. When one of the contestants leaves suddenly, Fran ends up replacing her and juggling cooking and crime solving. Unfortunately, the investigation has barely started when Miranda, the beloved star of the show (the victim of the harassment) is murdered.

There is a big cast of suspects but it's not hard to keep track.

The narration by Mira Dovreni is great.

This audiobook would appeal to readers who enjoy cozy mysteries with intriguing puzzles.

Death at Beresford Hall is the 4th in the Adam and Eve series. It worked okay as a stand-alone, but I think I would have benefitted from knowing a bit more about Fran and Adam and their previous cases. We’re kind of dropped in the middle of the action. Fran is undercover at a cooking show tv competition, posing as a writer gathering “behind the scenes” info about the show, with Adam there to assist. The show’s star, Miranda Appleby, has been receiving threatening gifts and Fran and Adam are charged with finding out who is doing it. Things turn more complicated when Miranda manipulates Fran into stepping in as a contestant on the show. Then, of course, Miranda ends up murdered, killed with a cake knife.

The “behind the scenes” peek at a reality cooking show was fun. There’s plenty of jealousy and backstabbing and secrets. The clues were tucked in well, with several red herrings and enough suspects to keep me guessing. Fran and Adam are an interesting team. They don’t seem to have much in common, aside from their crime-solving, but they get along well, each bringing their own skills and outlook.

I listened to the audio. I really enjoy audiobooks since they let me get other, less fun stuff done while I’m reading – like dishes (our dishwasher is broken). The narrator did a good job with the voices and it was easy to keep the characters straight.

Overall, this was a fun, light read. And I liked the Christmas touches, even if it took place months earlier than December.

Loved it! The dynamic between the leads is one we don't usually see and I really appreciated it. I enjoyed the friendship between Fran and Adam enough that I am excited to go back and read the rest of the books in this series.

As a new reader to the Adam and Eve Mystery series, I liked that I didn't feel at all left out by the fact I hadn't read the first 3 books. Nor did I feel constantly hit over the head by the author with "catch me up" tidbits. The past stories showed up in organic and reasonable ways that made sense.

This was a great read for a cozy mystery fan. It was cozy enough without being too cutesy, and the mystery was interesting without being too obvious. I enjoyed it from start to finish

BLOG TOUR REVIEW 



Review for 'Death At Beresford Hall' by Emma Davies. 



Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous 



Publication date 7th December 2022. 



This is the sixth book I have read by this author. It is also the fourth book in her 'Adam And Eve Mystery Series' but can be read as a standalone. I have previously read 'A Year At Appleyard Farm', 'The Little Island Secret', 'My Husband's Lie', 'After The Crash', 'Death In Disguise' (First book in the 'Adam And Eve Mystery Series') and 'Death On The Menu (Third Book in the' Adam And Eve Mystery Series') and would recommend them all!! 



I was originally drawn to this book by its beautiful eye catching cover and its intriguing synopsis. I am a huge fan of Emma and if this book is half as good as  'A Year At Appleyard Farm', 'The Little Island Secret', 'My Husband's Lie', After The Crash', 'Death On The Menu' and 'Death In Disguise' it is bound to be an epic read!! The synopsis stated that this book is 'An utterly gripping cozy crime mystery set at a Christmas cooking competition. This is perfect for fans of Faith Martin, M.C. Beaton and The Thursday Murder Club. .' I am a huge fan of Faith Martin so am interested to see if it will live up to this statement. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture  that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).



This novel consists of 23 chapters. The chapters are medium to long in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!



This book is based in  Shropshire, England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 , UK 🇬🇧. The bonus for me of books that are partly or fully based in the UK is that I live in the UK and have sometimes visited places mentioned in the book which makes it easier to picture. I have actually visited and stayed in Shropshire so am looking forward to seeing if I recognise any places mentioned in the book. 



This book is written in third person perspective with the main protagonists being Francesca Eve and Adam Smith. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything.



WOW!!! JUST WOW!!! YET ANOTHER ADDICTIVE ADDITION TO THE FANTASTIC 'ADAM AND EVE' SERIES!! I LOVE HOW YOU CAN JUMP FROM GENRE TO GENRE ABSOLUTELY PERFECTLY AND WHETHER IT IS A ROMANCE, WOMEN'S FICTION OR MURDER MYSTERY YOU SLAM DUNK IT EVERY TIME AND THIS BOOK IS NO EXCEPTION!!! 



Another huge success by Emma Davies!!! This book is beautifully written and filled with vivid descriptions to the point where I can hear the trees rustling in the wind and taste Frank's divine dishes while curled up on the sofa reading. The cover and synopsis suit the storyline perfectly. 



LOVE, LOVE, LOVED IT!!! AN ABSOLUTELY GRIPPING COSY MYSTERY!!!! 



I must admit that I had no idea what to expect when I started reading this fantastic series when I read 'Death In Disguise' but I will start by repeating that you Emma are a lady of many talent! The first book of yours that I fell in love with was 'My Husband's Lie' which was a psychological fiction filled with mystery and suspense, I then read 'A year at Applewood farm' which was filled with romance, I moved onto 'The Little Island Secret ' which was a gorgeous romantic holiday fiction and the last book I read by you was 'After The Crash' which was a romantic mystery. I then moved onto the first in this series 'Death In Disguise, somehow I think I may have missed' Death On The Dinner Plate', read 'Death On The Menu' and now I have just finished this absolutely addictive page turner and yet again you have outshone yourself!! Does your talent have no boundaries?  Not many people can jump from one genre to another and even less do it well but you have done an absolutely fantastic job Emma!!!! Congratulations and I am looking forward to your next successful surprise!! 



The storyline is absolutely addictive starting off with the perfect atmosphere for a cosy mystery being a treasure hunt after the death of an author!! A unique and perfectly fitting start for an  murder mystery!! This is most definitely one the best cosy murder mysteries I have ever read!!! It was filled with murder, suspense, mystery, humour and rammed full of red herrings!! What more could you ever ask for in a cosy mystery? This book is perfect to read curled up by a fire or relaxing on a beach. There were so many different red herrings and different leads that Emma took me down and I enjoyed solving the puzzles and clues along with Fran and Adam. I would never have worked out who the killer was so a MASSIVE CONGRATULATIONS to Emma for managing to surprise me. I have read several books by authors who have only ever written mysteries and yet have worked out the whodunit by 50% in some which is a pet hate for me. However, you normally write romance novels and amazing ones at that, and yet managed to completely shock me!!! I also loved how everything was explained and tied up as another pet hate of mine is when a piece of the puzzle is mentioned then seemingly forgotten and never spoken of again. Emma, I absolutely LOVED this book which is an absolutely, perfectly explosive addition to what has promised to be an absolutely epic new series!!! I would LOVE to see this book, well this whole series turned into a movie which is sure to be a huge hit. Keep up the amazing work and I cannot wait for your next success whether it's another romance or the fourth part in this fantastic series!! 



Although this is the fourth book in the series reader's would have absolutely no problems reading it without the others. Any details or events that have previously happened are mentioned in just the right amount of detail to let a new reader know what has happened and yet not too much to bore a previous reader.



I absolutely love Fran and was over the moon to meet her again!!! When I started this series and I realised that she was a 50 year old caterer I did not know what to expect but straight away her personality lit up like a lighthouse. She made me laugh until I had tears streaming down my face. I can't remember the last time a character made me laugh so much! She is such a realistic character that jumps out of the pages and who is smart, caring and intriguing. The fact that this was a cosy murder mystery was even better as she definitely made it lighter than most I have read. She is such a larger than life and bubbly character who says it as it is, doesn't take any crud and has the most gorgeous personality. She is friendly, knows what to says who to trust and the fact that she swears now and again makes her my perfect cup of tea!! Fran is definitely the type of woman I would want by my side whether I wanted to laugh, cry or have a 5 course meal. I immediately clicked with her after the first few pages of 'Death In Disguise' and she hasn't left my mind since. The second I started reading this book it felt like I had only just finished saying Goodbye to her as qshe materialised in front of me again. I am happy to say that the same went with Adam who was nervous, funny and minced his words. They are complete opposites who made the perfect team. Again, neither knew each other previously when they first met yet they hit it off straight away and they work just as well together in this book as they did the first. They make one of the best teams I have ever met!! They make a perfect pairing and I cannot wait to meet them both again. They are most certainly the type of characters whose personalities stay with you for a long time and I've already started missing them... Hint hint Emma 😉 



DO NOT PICK THIS BOOK UP UNTIL YOU HAVE CLEARED YOUR SCHEDULES AS YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PUT IT DOWN! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ⚠!! 



Yet one more HUGE CONGRATULATIONS Emma on the best cosy mystery series I have ever read and I am impatiently waiting for the next success in this series!! 



Overall an absolutely addictive, hilarious, fun, light hearted cosy mystery which will keep you up until 2am turning the pages 



Genres covered in this novel include Murder Mystery, Cozy Culinary Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Cozy Crafts & Hobbies Mystery, Women Sleuths, Cozy Animal Mystery and Crime Fiction amongst others. 



I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as FANS of Agatha Christie, Clare Chase, Helena Dixon, Martin, M.C. Beaton, 'The Thursday Murder Club' and anyone who loves an amazing cosy mystery and especially you reading this!! . 



333 pages/8 hours and 29 minutes 



This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle, £16 for audiobook and £8.99 in paperback on Amazon at time of review, which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!! 



Rated 5/5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook. 



Feel free to add me on Goodreads or follow me on my website or Facebook for more reviews 



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Narrated by Mira Dovreni ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Author Emma Davies ⭐⭐⭐

This is my first time trying Emma Davies and this was an enjoyable cosy mystery Agatha Christie whodoneit type book. Would definitely try this author again.

Francesca Eve and Adam have worked well together in the past. They met while Fran was catering a luncheon for his mother. Not only does Adam now lend a hand with the various catering jobs Fran accepts, the pair are proving to be more than adept when it comes to solving murders. Being called to her latest job is mainly due to Fran’s reputation. Currently, a popular baking competition is being filmed for the holidays. A famous chef named Miranda Appleby has been receiving dangerous threats and she hopes that Fran can get to the bottom of things.

Before Fran and Adam can discover what is happening, one of the competitors quits, and Fran is thrust even further into everything going on. She is pressured to being one of the show’s contestants. Them Miranda is found dead, thus leaving credence to the threats she had been receiving. However…the show must go on. With Fran still cooking for the competition, Adam takes more of a role as amateur sleuth in the midst of everything going on around them. As a lover of this series, it was a real treat to watch Adam as he steps up. He was a shy young man who had been living a quiet life of solitude. Now, his tech savvy skills really come into play, as well as his sharp intuition. Fran and Adam make an excellent team, no matter who appears in charge.

While this story offers a behind-the-scenes look at cooking shows, I certainly hope that it is just pure fiction, as these shows are one of my guilty pleasures. With this book and setting, lies, secrets, backstabbing and betrayal apparently underscore everything happening on and off screen. Then, with Miranda’s murder having taken place, the tension never once lets up. This latest installment in this delightful series by Emma Davies was really an excellent read.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Please enjoy my YouTube video review - https://youtu.be/69AzvZxZAMc

Classic cozy mystery...
I guess it does stand out a bit from the rest of the flock because of the whole tv-cooking-show-setting. And it works - it is a good story.

But I would have loved if Netgalley (or the publisher posting on Netgalley) was upfront and just explained that this book is no. 4 in a series... once again I find myself in the middle of a series. D'OH!
I know... the book is a stand-alone... yes....But still, I know there is a history regarding the main characters that I'm missing... and somehow that is all I think about when reading...

Great British Bake off meets cozy mystery?! Sign me up. This book follows Francesca and Adam undercover on the set of a Christmas Cooking Competition Special. While they're investigating a string of threats to the famous host, a death occurs on set.

This cozy mystery was so fun and so British. I loved how it made me rekindle my old love from 2020.. The Great British Bake Off!

I didnt realize this was the 4th in the series until halfway through so props to Emma for making this work as a stand alone as well!

This book started out slow for me and I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but once the meat of the story got going I really liked it. I will definitely be going back to the beginning of the series and reading all of the books there. I really love the relationship and interplay between the detective, Fran, and Adam! For being "amateur sleuths" Fran & Adam are pretty adept!

#DeathatBeresfordHall
#NetGalley

Welcome to The Great British Bake Off meets MIss Marple !
This is a gently, cosy mystery set amid a cooking competition, similar to TGBBO. Fran is undercover with her sidekick Adam, trying to investigate threats made against the show's star, in the guise of "behind the scenes" writers. Things quickly take a turn for the worse as one of the competitors pulls out before filming has begun and Fran has to take her place. Soon after proceedings begin, the star of the show is found dead and the killer must be one of the competitors and crew - there are many to choose from!
A lovely listen for wet afternoons with knitting and hot chocolate and I'll look out for more in the series.

A well written, well narrated whodunit. The setting is a reality show cooking competition and the star chef/show presenter is being threatened. Francesca is sent to suss out from who the threats are coming before anything terrible happens. Things don’t go as planned when Miranda is found dead in her trailer. Next a contestant drops out and Francesca is forced into the competition and doing miserably, there are so many potential suspects that it is daunting she doesn’t truly believe a word that anyone is saying. Lots of twists and turns along the way to a truly nice wrap up. This was my first in this series and it can absolutely be read as a stand alone. This was a 3.5 star for me, but upgraded to 4 as half stars not available.

Death at Beresford Hall is a cozy mystery story that follows a festive baking competition made for TV (think Great British Bake Off). Fran turns up under the guise of writing a book that gives readers an inside glimpse of the popular TV show, but she is really investigating a string of unwanted gifts to the presenter, Miranda Appleby. When Miranda is found murdered, Fran's hunt for the mysterious gifter turns into a hunt for a murderer.

I listened to the audiobook of this story and I just found that it wasn't quite enough to keep me gripped. The characters were just ok, but there were quite a lot of them to remember and I don't feel that I got to know any of them particularly well. The story wasn't bad but it just felt a bit 'amateur' in how it was written, with one section at the end containing a summing up to finish the book off.

My thanks to NetGalley and the Publishers for sending me this ARC in return for an honest review.

Francescas is set to be on a popular cooking show when a tragic accident happens and the host is found dead. Someone has been sending the host, Miranda, threats for a little bit and Francesca is also there undercover to watch her peers and find who has been doing it when she walks in to find Miranda dead. It seems that everyone has an alibi expect for one person, but everything in her says that the assistant did not do it. She uncovers numerous secrets and lies along the way but can she find the killer before it happens to someone else?

I thought this was a cute story. I liked the mystery aspect with the Christmas cooking competition tied in. It kept me reading and I wanted to know what secret Fran would uncover next.

Death at Beresford Hall is a cozy mystery that takes place while filming a Christmas cooking competition. This is the fourth book in the Adam and Eve series by Emma Davies but can be read as a standalone.

Fran and Adam have been engaged by Miranda, the baking competition presenter and judge to look into the source of some unwanted and nasty presents she has been receiving. The investigation turns more serious when Miranda is murdered while filming the show.

The backdrop of a cooking reality show was entertaining and a first for me so I quite enjoyed getting to know the way these reality shows are made. It had all the elements of a well plotted mystery with the crew as well as contestants as possible suspects. The twists and turns happened in quick succession in the later half of the book and all the secrets were revealed that made the audiobook so much more enjoyable to listen to.

Thank you @netgalley and @bookouture for an advance audiobook to listen and review.

I found myself to be quite engaged with this audiobook in the beginning, loving that it seemed like a dark twist on the Great British Bake off.

Unfortunately, this kind of twist is becoming more popular, and I wasn't able to stay interested throughout this one. The first half was great, but once the actual murder happened in the story, it seemed to go through the same sort of plot lines over and over again.

Overall it was a good cozy mystery, but not a stand out for me .

An absorbing and entertaining read that will keep you turning pages and will keep you guessing until the last pages. Enjoyed the characters!

I picked this one up without realizing that it's number 4 in a series. I generally love a good cozy mystery, especially on a dreary day. However, this one was too generic for me. There was nothing wrong with it - it's a perfectly good cozy mystery. Unfortunately, there isn't anything that really stands out about it either. The narration was solid if you're looking for an easy audiobook.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC.

The Great British Bake off meets Midsomer Murders! Superstar chef Miranda Appleby starts receiving strange ‘presents’ with malicious undertones, whilst working on her TV show ‘Country Cooks Cook’. Francesca Eve and Adam are brought in by the local police to covertly assess the situation. Posing as authors, writing a behind-the-scenes book based on the show, they investigate to get to the bottom of who could be sending these sinister gifts.

A wonderfully quaint, cosy murder mystery with a good twist at the end! Although this is part of a series, and it does refer back to the pervious volumes in places, I enjoyed it perfectly well as a stand alone book. Overall the story was good, but there wasn’t anything that particularly stood out to me and I found it a little slow moving, which is a shame as I love the concept.



The narrator was quite good and told the tale well.



*SPOILER* (I must say they don’t seem very good detectives to be honest. They didn’t know how to google using the exact phrase options and didn’t realise to work out to use legal channels to find details of someone changing their name by Deed Poll for like 2 days?)